Get the kid back in pinstripes. Courtesy of Michael L. Stein/US Presswire
(The following is being syndicated from An A-Blog for A-Rod)
On paper, is everything you would want in a pitching prospect. He’s a big, hulking kid with top shelf electric stuff. With that combination, saying his ceiling is a right-handed Randy Johnson is not outside the realm of possibilities, and Betances is the most decorated prospect currently in the Yankee system. He’s appeared on more organizational top 15, top 10, and top 5 lists than anybody, and has been on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects 3 times, including each of the last 2 editions. He’s also having arguably the worst year in his 6-year Minor League career this year, and at age 24 he’s rapidly approaching make-or-break territory. That being the case, I think now is the time to pull the trigger and bring Betances up to the show and stick him in the bullpen.
And it’s not because I don’t think he can eventually become a good, possibly great starting pitcher in the future. It’s because the fact of the matter is that Betances just isn’t getting any better in the Minors. 2010 was a step in the right direction for Betances in terms of improving his command and sharpening up his mechanics (108 K/22 BB in 85.1 IP across 2 levels), but since then it’s been steadily downhill. 2011 was a step backwards (4.996 BB/9 in 126.1 IP across 2 levels) and 2012 has been an even bigger step back (8.07 BB/9 in 58.0 IP). When he moved from High-A to Double-A in 2010, Betances’ FIP jumped to the high 3.00s; Double-A to Triple-A last season it jumped to the low 4.00s; this season it’s currently sitting at 5.68.
The command issues aren’t improving, the performance is declining, and because Betances can’t consistently throw strikes, he isn’t pitching deep enough into games to make the jump in innings totals that he still needs to make to be able to pitch a full season as a starter. Do the math. 58 IP in 12 starts is less than 5 innings per start, and that’s not going to get it done at the Major League level. It’s not even getting it done at the Triple-A level, so what’s the point in continuing to keep Betances in a situation and an environment where he isn’t improving AND isn’t upping his workload?
I don’t want to run the Triple-A coaching staff down here, but they’re in charge of managing Betances and working with him on his mechanics and the kid is experiencing a regression in his stat lines as he advances up the MiL ladder, which is the complete opposite of how it’s supposed to work. To me, that suggests what they’re doing with him is not working, and so if he’s one of the organization’s top prospects and a potential key cog in the Yankees’ plans to remain at the top of the Major League food chain while trying to cut payroll, he should be moved up to see what the Major League coaching staff can do with him.
Betances obviously isn’t going to supplant anybody in the current Yankee rotation, but he can be a more useful bullpen piece than the likes of or . The addition of Betances paired with the return of D-Rob would give the Yankees the boost in depth and talent that would allow them to dump the barely-used Garcia and get Betances around a group of people who could help him better than the Triple-A staff has. Mike Harkey has helped Robertson improve his command and cut down on his walks, and has had a knack for turning guys with far less raw skill than Betances into very good relief pitchers. Imagine what he could do with Betances. Larry Rothschild worked with to improve his command in Chicago and has pushed the right buttons with to raise his ceiling. And if you want to talk about improving command and repeating mechanics, who better to be exposed to than ? He sure as hell doesn’t have anything else to do right now, and there has to be a pointer or 2 he can try to pass on to Betances.
Beyond the internal plans for Betances in the here and now, there’s also the trade market to consider. Betances could be just as useful to the Yankees as a major trade piece in the future, but his long list of MiL accolades won’t mean anything to other teams for much longer if he continues to pitch as poorly as he is in Triple-A. Calling him up, getting him working with Harkey, Rothschild, and company, and getting him into Major League game action to showcase his stuff could do a lot to fix any damage that his ghastly early-season performance has done to his trade value.
I know talk of moving a young starter to the bullpen brings up a lot of bad memories in Yankeeland, but I’m not suggesting this as a permanent conversion to the bullpen. I’m suggesting it as a final effort to help Betances move closer to becoming the pitcher his skill set makes him capable of becoming, and as a way to do what the coaching staffs in the Minors have not been able to do. If working with the Major League coaching staff and veteran pitchers helps him and he shows something this season, then you bring him into Tampa early next year to start stretching back out as a starter and let him compete for a spot in the rotation. But the longer Betances toils away in Triple-A walking 6-7 guys a game in 4-5 innings of work, the less shiny a prospect he becomes and the less likely it becomes that he can be an asset to the Yankees in any capacity. Call him up and start molding him into something.
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Love it, great idea
100% agree. There is absolutely no point in having Garcia on this team. None. I cannot think of a single thing he does on this team that someone else who is more important to the future cant do just as well if not better. Betances trade value is getting less and less as he struggles down in AAA. Also while were at it send down Phelps to be be stretched out as a real starter and call up Adam Warren to waste away as the long man.
The article hit on a good point. I know its normal for most pitchers to struggle the higher they climb but when it is a piece as important as Betances, Banuelos, and to a much lesser extent Warren is, wouldn’t you think they would pay special attention to fixing them?
good ideas. Never happen.
Terrible idea. You don’t bring guys up to try to fix them at the ML level, you bring them up when they are ready to succeed at the ML level. Betances is not ready.
If the minor league staff isn’t doing their job well (and I’m not saying that they aren’t) then replace them but don’t make it Rothschild’s job.
They may have to consider doing something like this when Betances is out of options but before then, he is best served by getting as much work in as he can as a starter in the minors.
Also, maybe people don’t know this but Mark Newman has blamed a lot of Betances struggles this year on a broken finger nail.
that is exactly what Rothschild’s job is, he is a pitching coach his job is to help players refine there mechanics and make sure that they can perform up to there potential.
He’s the major league pitching coach. His job is to do that with pitchers on the MLB roster. Bettances should be nowhere near the MLB roster until he proves he is ready.
Where is the logic to calling up a struggling prospect because he is struggling? How is hurting the big league team by using a pitcher not nearly ready for the big leagues going to help anyone?
I bet you are a proponent of not keeping score and giving out participant trophies.
What a dumb idea. If you succeed in the minors, you go to the majors.
I love this post but I think there may be an even better interim solution.
Allow Betances to go back to what he was doing before they got hold of him in AAA. All their meddling with his mechanics has done nothing but turn a moderate control problem into an acute one. His moderate control problem — given his ability to hold teams to low .200s BAs — would still allow him to pitch in big league pen. Many top relief men — including the fab D-Rob — succeed while walking four per nine innings. But somehow the Yankee minor league staff so confused this kid to the point that he can barely go four innings without walking six.
Let him go back to his natural mechancis. And then bring him up after he begins dominating again.
The larger point: Yankees have gotten into habit of relying on retreads and stunting the development of worthy youngsters. Mustelier has hit over .320 in three different leagues but he languishes in AAA in favor of proven sub-mediocrities like Nix, Eppley and Wise. And why in the world are Sanchez and Austin still sitting in Charleston? Is this so they can be there when Cashman guests at the SAL All-Star game? Weird stuff going on in Yankee land.
Betances was messed up last year before he ever got to AAA. He had no control at Trenton either, and he hasn’t improved at all this year.
The kid doesn’t throw strikes. He’s had 5 games already this year with 6 walks, including his last start. He’s had 2 decent start and 1 great one. The rest have been pretty poor because of poor command.
This is false: “Betances was messed up last year before he ever got to AAA. He had no control at Trenton either….”
Fact: At Trenton, Betances walked just about 4.5 batters per 9 innings. In AAA this year, he’s walking almost nine per 9 innings.
So something has gone extremely wrong in AAA. And contrary to the disinformation of many posters, Betances does not have a long history of serious control problems. His AA walk rate is one walk in a two inning relief stint. Combine that with his ultra-low hits allowed and that is the profile of a very effective reliever. But somebody screwed this kid up in AAA (or maybe it’s just the fingernail).
9BB/9IP is atrocious but the increase is likely at least partly due to the fingernail issue. 4.5 is still high though. 3.2BB/9IP is the MLB average this year. He can get away with walks more than someone with lesser stuff but it is true that he’s always had control problems.
Or maybe he’s just not that good. Anfrew Brackman, part deux?
Unfortunately that’s the way he’s been looking. Just like Brackman. Somebody should be answering for this. The kid has the best stuff in the system but has little command on his fastball. I’ve seen all his starts this year and except for 3 of his games he has not been very good. His whip is horrible and its a shame.
Or maybe he’s just not that good. Andrew Brackman, part deux?
And then this happened.
Sounds like that move is covering for Garcia. He’s been put on the bereavement list and is traveling back to Venezuela after his grandfather’s death.
Once again, an older guy is called up instead of a kid: Ryota Igarashi is 33 and walks over 6 guys per 9 IP.
Something seems to go wrong at AAA. Banuelos started having control issues once he got there as well.
“Something seems to go wrong at AAA.”
I’m beginning to think so too, and not just in regards to Banuelos/Betances.
There are two issues. First, you’re facing more advanced competition than you do at AA. High A to AA is considered the biggest jump, but AAA is loaded with ex-major leaguers and fringy quad-A types. Those hitters have more plate discipline than the ones you face at the lower levels. So if you never really threw strikes, the higher you go the more exposed it becomes.
The other issue is lack of a home field in 2012. Most pitchers like to find a groove and get on a roll at some point, but that’s just not going to happen this year. Especially for a pitcher like Dellin who can get out of whack so easily. When I heard they would be road dogs all year, my first thought was DEllin would be affected the most, and it appears to be coming to pass.
Think Daniel Bard….ok, don’t. That hurt.
I really like the idea but I don’t think its time for that yet. Calling him up to the major leagues for the bullpen should be a last ditch effort to salvage value out of Betances, for all of the reasons you mentioned. It is not yet time for the last ditch effort though. He has the worst walk rate of his career and it doesn’t make sense why it doubled from last year to this year. He still has the second half to right the ship though, as its a long season. Guys at this level need to figure out how to throw strikes and there isn’t usually much coaches can do to make them do that. He will get there. If he finishes the season the same way he has started it, then its time for everything you said above to come to fruition. Not yet thoug, IMHO.
Dumbest post ever here and that’s saying something
I’m going to take that as a compliment.